July 18th

• Tell your friend she doesn’t deserve to be mistreated. When abuse occurs, it is not the fault of the victim. It is the fault of the person who chooses to victimize. Don’t ignore what’s happening. Don’t make light of it. Abuse is never acceptable.
• Don’t blame your friend for staying in an abusive relationship. No one knows better than the victim when the time is right to leave. The majority of domestic violence homicides occur when the victim leaves. You can’t gauge better than she can when it is safe. Be ready to help her when the time is right.

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Once Absher settled in, it was rough going for the Texas West club, which had to settle for both of its runs in the first inning; Ramon Sandoval cracked a triple off of the right field wall and was able to score on a throwing error after teammate Javier Perez, who had walked, crossed the plate.
But that was all the Texans could manage off of the pesky Absher, a Rayville product who has been carrying a “bulldog” tag throughout the season for his club.
“Once he settles in, he’s tough,” said pitching coach and former Ruston High and professional hurler Brandon Watts.

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Tech has added six bowling lanes to space that was recently occupied by seven racquetball courts in the Lambright.
“We had 12 courts and they were never all in use,” he said. “When they were built, they were at the height of popularity. We removed seven; five are still suitable to teach and host tournaments.”
Bowling will be ready for the fall, he said. It was previously a part of the Bulldog Kennel, a student recreation area that also featured video games and billiards under the bookstore.
That facility has been decommissioned, with the billiard tables moving up to the Lambright.

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July 17th

Recent tournaments hosted here have brought out-of-town guests to our city, which is good for local bank accounts.
Since the beginning of the year, the city has hosted the WAC 2008 Baseball Tournament, the Ruston Showcase AAU boys’ basketball tournament and now we’re welcoming the Southwest Regional Big League baseball tournament.

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While all this is great for the economy, it produces an added danger for drivers, who must beware that the environment in which they’re familiar is changing shape.
And if fear of having a wreck and the accompanying injuries and rising insurance rates aren’t enough to make a driver slow down, consider two more factors — speeding tickets and gas prices.
The statewide “Summer Heat” crackdown revved up earlier this month and continues through August. During this time, state, parish and local police release extra patrols to catch speeders.

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Teams eligible for the Southwestern Region tournament hail from the states of Oklahoma, Mississippi, West Texas, East Texas, New Mexico, Louisiana, Arkansas and Colorado.
The Big League division consists of players between the ages of 16-18.
Shuff, who has been able to take time off from his regular job with PPI Technologies of West Monroe to deal with his duties as the tourney director and district administrator, noted the excitement displayed by visiting teams for the regionals.

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Friday’s two games will begin at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. Texas East meets the winner from Colorado-Louisiana Blanchard in the first contest and followed by the winners from the Texas West-District 5 battle going up against New Mexico.
Action will continue with three games (1, 4 and 7 p.m.) on Saturday and Sunday (4 and 7 p.m.) before concluding with a 4 p.m. championship showdown Monday.

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July 16th

Many had recently attended the wonderful patriotic music/fireworks performance at Temple Baptist Church on July 3 and were now being treated to some tasty blues.
As I sat and watched Henry Dorsey fingerpick and sing his way through blues classics like “Sitting On Top of the World” and “Give Me Back My Wig,” with Wayne Collum blowing a mean blues harp in accompaniment, I began thinking about what a great opportunity it was to be able to see this kind of show on a Thursday night in Ruston.
But then, I shouldn’t be surprised, Ruston has long shown its love for song.

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The governor vetoed more than 250 items on the 2008-09 budget, stripping more than $16 million in legislative pet projects. The vetoes struck nearly a third of the add-ons that lawmakers put in the $29.9 billion budget.
Important projects in our area, however, were spared. The $200,000 allocated for the Northeast Louisiana Family Literacy Consortium, which operates six Even Start sites in northeast Louisiana, including the one in Lincoln Parish, remained intact.

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Last summer, the Louisiana team had a 27-10 record and reached the World Series again.
“I’ve been very blessed to have outstanding young men that happen to be outstanding baseball players,” Parkman said. “All the credit should go to their parents and their Little League coaches and their high school coaches. Brandon Watts has been helping me since 2003 and has been full-time since 2005 and has been great with our pitchers.”
Watts, a former star at Ruston High School who later played professionally, is joined by Drew Hampton as a member of the District 5 coaching staff.

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